Women's Soccer Faces No. 6 Seed DePaul in BIG EAST Semifinals

Thursday, November 7

Boyds, Md. (Maryland SoccerPlex)

5:00 PM

Xavier University

DePaul (BIG EAST Semifinals)

Women's Soccer Faces No. 6 Seed DePaul in BIG EAST Semifinals

11.06.24 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats Tickets

The Musketeers and the Blue Demons are set for a 5:00 p.m. start on FloSports

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

BOYDS, Md. - No. 2 seeded Xavier women's soccer opens up BIG EAST Championship play on Thursday, Nov. 7, as the Musketeers take on No. 6 seed DePaul in the BIG EAST Semifinals at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Md. The match with the Blue Demons is set to get underway at 5:00 p.m. on FloSports.

The Musketeers are 14-3-2 overall and finished with a 7-2-1 record in BIG EAST regular season play, finishing second in the league standings to earn a bye to the semifinals for the fourth-straight year, and the fifth time in sixth years.

Xavier is currently ranked No. 23 by Top Drawer Soccer and was receiving votes in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Poll (10/29/2024). The Musketeers stand at No. 27 in the most recent RPI.

BIG EAST BRACKET

Semis Bracket

GAME DETAILS

vs. No. 6 DePaul
Thursday, Nov. 7 - 5:00 p.m.
Maryland SoccerPlex - Boyds, Md.

General admission for adults to the events starts at $10 for a single session, while a tournament package is available starting at $15. Tickets are available for purchase HERE.

OPPONENT INFO

DePaul (5-7-7, 3-3-4 BIG EAST) advanced to the Semifinals on penalty kicks after playing No. 3 seed Butler to a 3-3 draw through double overtime. The Blue Demons finished with a 8-7 advantage on PKs.
Xavier took a 3-0 win over the Blue Demons in the regular season match-up. Emma Flick's fifth goal of the season was the eventual game-winner, giving the Musketeers a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute, scoring from Olivia Baca and McKinley Berry.
Less than 10 minutes into the second half, Xavier added another tally to the lead on a penalty kick from Samantha Wiehe, awarded after Olivia Baca was fouled in front of the net. The goal was WIehe's fourth of the season and she remains perfect on PKs for her time at Xavier.
The Musketeers added another insurance goal in the final 15 minutes when Reese Slater set up Olivia Lawson for her fifth goal of the season to set the final score at 3-0.
The Musketeer defense only allowed one shot in the second half, a look on-frame that Galley collected for her third save of the match. Galley picked up the shutout, her fourth complete shutout of the season and her school-record 27th for her Xavier career.
Xavier moved to 7-4-2 all-time against DePaul with this season's win, bringing a six-game winning streak and a nine-match unbeaten streak into the match with the Blue Demons.

ALL-BIG EAST HONORS

A trio of Musketeers picked up BIG EAST Postseason Awards, as voted on by the coaches, for the 2024 season. Natalie Bain was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, Samantha Wiehe earned BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year honors, and Samantha Erbach was picked as the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.
All three earned a spot on the All-BIG EAST First Team, while three additional Musketeers, Emma Flick, Regan Dancer and Maria Galley, were named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team.
Natalie Bain, a junior from Alexandria, Ky., was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year and earned a spot on the All-BIG EAST First Team after helping limit Xavier's opponents to just 16 goals on the season, and just seven in BIG EAST play. She leads the Musketeers' field players in minutes played at 1,646 and played the full 90 minutes in 14 matches this season, including nine of 10 BIG EAST matches, anchoring a Xavier defense that has nine shutouts on the season.
Offensively, Bain has career-high three goals for the season, and combined with her assist, she has a career-best seven points for the campaign.
Bain was selected as the 2024 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year by the league coaches, and was named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List. This is Bain's second time on the All-BIG EAST First Team, also earning a spot in 2023. She was also named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team and All-Freshman Team in 2022.
Samantha Wiehe, a senior from Northfield, Ohio, earned BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year and All-BIG EAST First Team honors after leading Xavier with 25 points, on nine goals and seven assists. Her seven assists were the second most in the BIG EAST through the regular season, trailing only Emma Flick among league players. In conference play, Wiehe has 15 points on six goals and three assists, trailing only Samantha Erbach in BIG EAST action.
Her six goals in league play are also tied for second most in league play behind Erbach's total. She also ranks fourth in the league with three assists in BIG EAST play. Wiehe is perfect on penalty kicks for the season, now at 6-of-6, and was the only player in the country with six made PKs through the end of the regular season.
Wiehe clocked 1,480 minutes in the Xavier midfield, the second most minutes among Xavier's field players, to help the Musketeer defense limit opponents to 16 goals overall and just seven in BIG EAST play.
Wiehe previously earned a spot on the 2023 All-BIG EAST Second Team.
Samantha Erbach, a forward from Lebanon, Ohio, earned All-BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and a spot on the All-BIG EAST First Team after collecting 24 points on the season, trailing only Samantha Wiehe on Xavier's squad. She finished the regular season with a team-high 10 goals, second most in the BIG EAST and 41st most in NCAA DI overall, and collected four assists so far in her freshman season. Among her goals were three game-winners, including the game-winning goals against Cincinnati and Butler.
Seven of Erbach's goals came during BIG EAST action to lead all conference players in league play. In BIG EAST matches, she led all league players in points (16), points per game (1.60) and goals per game (0.7) as well.
Erbach was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week five times during the 2024 regular season and earned a spot in the Top 50 of Top Draw Soccer's Midseason Top 100 Freshman list.
Emma Flick, a junior from Streetsboro, Ohio, earned a spot on the All-BIG EAST Second Team after collecting 20 points on the season on six goals and eight assists. Her assist total was the most by a BIG EAST player in the regular season. Among her six goals were a team-high matching three game-winners, including the game-winning tallies at DePaul and Creighton.
Flick's assist total ranked as the 22nd most in NCAA DI through the end of the regular season and her assists per game (0.42) led the conference and ranked in the top 50 in NCAA DI.
Flick earned BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honors for the week of 08/26/2024. This marks Flicks' first postseason All-BIG EAST honor.
Regan Dancer, a junior from South Lyon, Mich., was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team after finishing the regular season with 13 points on six goals and an assist. Among her six goals are three game-winners, including the game-winning goals on the road at BIG EAST opponents Villanova and Marquette.
Dancer ranks second in the BIG EAST and 28th in NCAA DI with a 0.605 shot accuracy, with 23 of her 38 shots going on-frame.
Dancer was previously named to the 2022 BIG EAST All-Freshman Team.
Maria Galley, a junior from South Windsor, Conn., earned All-BIG EAST Second Team honors after posting a goal against average of 0.815 for the regular season, with a 0.70 GAA in BIG EAST play, only allowing seven goals while playing the full 90 minutes in all 10 BIG EAST matches this season. Galley has eight complete shutouts for the season, which leads the BIG EAST and ranks 30th in NCAA DI.
Galley has 14 wins on the season, matching her career high for single-season wins, hitting that mark in each of her three seasons at Xavier.
Galley, who was a Preseason All-BIG EAST selection, was named the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week twice this season. She has earned a spot on the All-BIG EAST Second Team in each of ther three seasons as a Musketeer, also earning All-Freshman Team honors in 2022.

XAVIER OFFENSE

Xavier's offense leads the BIG EAST and ranks 10th in NCAA DI in total goals, with 48 for the season.
Xavier's scoring offense, which averages 2.53 goals per game, is also the best in the BIG EAST and No. 10 in the country.
The Musketeers also rank in the top 15 in goal differential, coming in at 11th in NCAA DI with 32 more goals than their opponents.
Xavier leads the BIG EAST and rank 15th in NCAA DI in total points at 130.

GALLEY IN THE RECORD BOOK

Goalkeeper Maria Galley matched her career high for single-season wins against Marquette, now with 14 wins in each of her three seasons at Xavier. The current single-season school record is 16 wins, set in 2021 by Olivia Jenkins.
Galley broke the school record for career wins earlier this season when she picked up her 30th career win against Michigan on August 18. Her current school-record total is 42 wins.
Galley also broke a 30-year-old school record for career shutouts earlier this season, picking up her 27th clean sheet as a Musketeer against DePaul. She currently has 31 shutouts as a Musketeer.
Galley also holds the Xavier single season record for shutouts at 12, set in 2023. She has eight this sesaon, which leads the BIG EAST and ranks 25th in NCAA DI.

TOP DRAWER SOCCER TOP 100

Four Musketeers earned spots on Top Drawer Soccer's Midseason Top 100 lists, released in early October. Two Musketeers were ranked in the top 50 of TDS' Midseason Top 100 players list, with defender Natalie Bain coming in at No. 21, the highest ranked player among BIG EAST squads. Midfielder Samantha Wiehe came in at No. 44. Xavier was the only BIG EAST school to have two players on the list.
Forward Samantha Erbach came in at No. 40 on TDS's Midseason Top 100 Freshman list. Defender McKinley Berry also earned a spot in the Top 50 of the Top 100 Freshman list, coming in at No. 44. Xavier was also the only team in the conference with two players in the Top 100 Freshmen.

BAIN NAMED TO HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST

Defender Natalie Bain was named one of the 44 NCAA Division Women's Division I college soccer players named to the 2024 Hermann Trophy Watch List, announced by the United Soccer Coaches on Thursday, August 15.
Bain, a junior from Alexandria, Ky., was a United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-American and First Team All-BIG EAST selection in 2023 and was selected as the BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year ahead of the 2024 season.
The defender made 20 starts for the Musketeers in 2023, playing 1,770 minutes for a Xavier defense that allowed only 11 goals for the season, winning a share of the BIG EAST Regular Season Championship and earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Bain played the full time in 17 matches on the Xavier backline in 2023, helping the Xavier defense finished the season with 13 shutouts, matching the school record set in 2019. Offensively, Bain finished with two points on a goal, scored in Xavier's 3-0 win at DePaul. She had 14 shots on the season, with eight on-frame.
The Hermann Trophy is presented annually by the Missouri Athletic Club and is the nation's highest individual honor recognizing the National Player of the Year as determined by voting of Division I head coaches who are members of United Soccer Coaches.

2023 season

Xavier is coming off a 2023 season where the Musketeers went 14-4-4 overall and went 6-0-4 in conference play to win a share of the BIG EAST Regular Season title and the No. 1 seed in the league tournament, where XU finished runners-up.
The 2023 Musketeers picked up an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, marking the third at-large bid in program history and the sixth trip overall to the national tournament.
Xavier earned a No. 4 seed, the best seeding in program history, and hosted the opening round of the of the tournament, the second NCAA home match in program history.

THE 2024 MUSKETEERS

The Musketeers returned 15 letterwinners in all from last season, and added six transfers in addition to an eight-person freshman class for Dean Ward's first year leading Xavier.
Ward took over the program in December 2023, coming to Xavier from Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C., where he led the Bears to 29 wins, two league titles, one conference tournament title and a pair of NCAA DII Women's Soccer Championship appearances in two seasons as head coach.
Xavier returns four of all-conference honorees from last season, led by USC Second Team All-American Natalie Bain, who was selected as the league's Preseason Defender of the Year after earning a spot on the All-BIG EAST First Team last season.
Goalkeeper Maria Galley, an All-BIG EAST Second Team honoree in 2023, was also selected to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.
Xavier also returns Maddie Reed and Samantha Wiehe were selected to the All-BIG EAST Second Team in 2023.
Wiehe led the Musketeers in points last season, finishing with 20 after matching for team high in goals (7) and assists (6).
Reed anchored Xavier's backline last year, starting all 22 matches and playing 1,950 minutes for a Xavier defense that limited opponents to just 11 goals for the season.

BIG EAST COACHES POLL

BIG EAST Preseason Women's Soccer Coaches' Poll
(first-place votes)
1. Georgetown – 100 (10)
2. UConn – 91 (1)
3. Xavier – 72
4. Butler – 70
5. Providence – 66
6. St. John's – 57
7. Creighton – 44
8. Seton Hall – 43
T9. Marquette – 22
T9. Villanova – 22
11. DePaul – 19

Preseason BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year
Natalie Tavana, Seton Hall, Sr., F

Preseason BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year
Natalie Bain, Xavier, Jr., D

Preseason BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year
Kaitlyn Mahoney, UConn, Gr., GK

Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Abigail Isger, Butler, Gr., F
Caitlin O'Malley, Butler, Gr., D
Talia Sommer, Butler, Jr., M/F
Azumi Manriki, Creighton, Sr., M
Natalie Means, Georgetown, Jr., F
Eliza Turner, Georgetown, Sr., MF
Kayla Briggs, Providence, So., F
Natalie Tavana, Seton Hall, Sr., F
Lucy Cappadona, UConn, Gr., D
Kaitlyn Mahoney, UConn, Gr., GK
Chioma Okafor, UConn, Jr., F
Natalie Bain, Xavier, Jr., D
Maria Galley, Xavier, Jr., GK

XAVIER SOCCER ON FLOSPORTS

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Xavier will broadcast every home soccer and volleyball match that isn't produced by the BIG EAST Digital Network. Both broadcasts will be available for fans to watch on FloSports.

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